Davis Homes Indianapolis Indiana (neighborhood, buyers, bankruptcy)

[insider]

mop the floors and wipe the counters every now and then and your ants will move to the next buffet

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by mikijayne

that Was 35 Years Ago Though, Right? I Would Think Several Things Have Changed Since Then.

Be Nice!!

[MikiJayne]

Originally Posted by domergurl

Be Nice!!

I didn't mean to sound snarky. Sorry!

[domergurl]

Oh crap ... I didn't mean for you to be nice ... you're always nice ... correction below.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by insider

mop The Floors And Wipe The Counters Every Now And Then And Your Ants Will Move To The Next Buffet

Be Nice!!!

[MICoastieMom]

Originally Posted by MikiJayne

That was 35 years ago though, right? I would think several things have changed since then.

Apparently not, it seems any number of others have had more recent issues. My point was that the recent problems with Davis homes is not the result of the current downward spiral in home building and economic conditions. It is a long standing issue, and one that seems to be standard operating procedure.

I was merely responding to a request by the OP for negative experiences with Davis Builder's.

[MICoastieMom]

Originally Posted by insider

mop the floors and wipe the counters every now and then and your ants will move to the next buffet

Assuming my mother's kitchen counters and floor needed mopping, and that is a pretty big assumption, that was not the issue. Please read my post again. What attracted the carpenter ants was not anything on the floor or the counter, but what was left behind in the crawl space; saw dust, odds and ends of wooden studs and trusses, anything Davis Builders didn't want to clean up, they dumped there. Kind of like sweeping the dirt under the carpet, don't you think? And what reason would my parents have to assume that craftsmen wouldn't take pride in their work and clean up after themselves.

There were never any carpenter ants in the kitchen. They went directly from the debris pile under the house to the wooden studs in the walls. It was not until the colony got big enough to hear them chewing that there was any evidence of their presence.

[indygrrrl]

I will tell you what is went wrong with Davis Homes and it was a few years before Bill Fox.

The problem with Davis Homes is sibling rivalry, plain and simple. Each of the Davis "boys" never stopped to realize their strengths and weaknesses and worked as triple Co-CEO's. SO, you now witness 3 different attempts to "PWAY PWESIDENT"

I found Rick to be the most capable leader in terms of being pc, decisive, yet very very reasonable. Some criticized that he led from an ivory tower, so I guess that might be the weakness. However, I witnessed several attempts on his part to get down and learn the business from the inside out. He was the biggest class act, in my honest opinion. It was under Rick's leadership that a market study was paid for that determined Davis needed to "differentiate" itself in the market from the other D's at the time...Deluxe and Dura builders. So they ramped up their look, their features, their quality and played on the enormous family history and local experience.

I found Mike to be the most passionate and energetic and exciting. However, on the downside----he was irrational, hot tempered, and unappreciative at times. Often described as a little Napoleon steamrolling over others. It was under Mike's leadership that basically, the entire company became Best Homes. It was sad to see Davis Homes lose its architectural appeal, go back to being nothing different than the other "d's" (which were now Crossman, CP Morgan) etc. The quality was stripped out, loyal employees who frankly knew the essence of "Davis" better than the Davis boys themselves were let go for cheaper replacements to reduce overhead, etc. It's those loyal employees that have been there that would have pulled this company through the current market conditions....not the cheaper $8.00 an hour newbies that don't have the depth or breadth of experience. Mike basically shot off the company's proverbial feet.

Finally, Brad.... Brad is the most like his father, in my opinion. The brother that has the drive and the vision and dream. BUT, many would argue he lacks the business acumen or is at least seemingly never taken seriously. He does have a temper........needs to tone down the desire to $pend, but would be the one to either drive the oil tanker into the ocean or save it. I wish him the best of luck.

All I can say for the big D..................RETURN TO YOUR ROOTS. RETURN!! What makes a builder last over fifty years? Loyalty to their subs. Loyalty to their employees. and for God's sake.......JUST LIKE A MOVIE PRODUCER..if you are going to put all this money and attention on your projects, get your A-list salespeople. Yep, their divas....yep you gotta pay for them, but Julia Roberts sells your show.
Oh, and for what it's worth, get a good marketing mind like Peter Ruffing.
Not some of these absolutely CLUELESS sales and marketing managers you have had since.
Dad and OE knew what's up.

[yasnai]

Bottom line I have heard to much negative stuff about them lately. I cancelled my contract, shredded my check and I have moved on. They have been building on a home in the community that we were looking at for over 6 months and have not closed on the home yet. Maybe one day they will get their act together but they will not waste my time and money while they do it. Hwen you call them no one answers it just goes to a voicemail. They also never return your calls....who wants to build with a company like that. They have a bunch of lots still empty, it just does not look good.

[domergurl]

And now they are done ... boy, Brad Davis is probably wondering why the heck did he buy out his brothers???

Davis Homes will shut operations | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star